The store, the successor to Rapid Hardware, will shut after administrators failed to find a buyer.

Rapid Discount Outlet is based in the old George Henry Lee building – itself a legacy of another famous Liverpool store that’s no more.

So we thought we’d look back at the history of some of the city’s other famous former shops.

The city has been home to many department stores and other large shops, from local names that grew into national chains to the Mersey outposts of famous global brands.

This is just a selection - why not share your memories and let us know what you think using the comment section below.

Lewis’s

The former Lewis's Building.

Lewis’s wasn’t just a famous Liverpool store – the chain founded by David Lewis became a national name.

Lewis opened his first shop in 1856 in Liverpool. The company went on to open large department stores in cities including Manchester, Glasgow and Leicester, as well as a store next to Blackpool Tower.

The store in Ranelagh Street, later rebuilt after World War II bombing, became one of Liverpool’s best-loved stores, with attractions including a toy department, cafe, hair salon and the famous Christmas grotto.

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The famous store was stripped out and split in two as part of the Central Village development. That scheme has stalled, but the famous Dickie Lewis statue still watches over the heart of Liverpool. And a new Post Office in the ground floor of the old store is bringing many old Lewis’s customers back to the famous store again.

Owen Owen

Owen Owen Department Store, Liverpool, 19th March 1993.

Another of Liverpool’s most famous department stores, Owen Owen in Clayton Square finally closed its doors in 1995.

The business was founded by Welsh-born Owen Owen in 1868 and also grew into a national chain. Its Clayton Square store – now housing stores including a Tesco Metro – was its flagship.

Owen Owen - Lucy Jardine, Andre Distell and Kin White pose in Williamson Square in outfits inspired by British Telecom's Inphone range and designed by Antony Price. Pic by Stephen Shakeshaft for the Post & Echo, November 16, 1984 from the Liverpool ECHO archive

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On the Museum of Liverpool website , one former customer says: “A lot of Welsh people used to shop at Owen Owen of a Thursday. They sold things like crockery, furniture and clothes. There was a little shop downstairs where you could buy speciality foods.

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“You would shop in Owen Owen on occasions if you wanted a coat or a dress. If you couldn’t get anything local then you’d go into town. You’d go in Owen Owen where you hesitated going into the Bon Marché or Hendersons. It was more customer-friendly, working class. I didn’t feel inferior going in there.”

Littlewoods

Exterior of Littlewoods Building in Church Street, Liverpool, 1999

Littlewoods is one of the biggest names in Liverpool business history – but sadly its high street stores are no more.

In 1932, almost a decade after founding his famous football pools business. John Moores expanded into mail order shopping. His first store was opened in 1937 and after World War II opened a flagship store in Church Street.

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On June 22. 1960, 11 people were killed when a blaze ripped through the building.

The shop was rebuilt and reopened in 1962 under the Hendersons name. It was rebranded as Binns in 1975 and closed in the 1980s.

George Henry Lee

George Henry Lee building circa 1960s approx

Strictly speaking George Henry Lee never closed – it was renamed and relocated. But somehow that famous old store feels like a very different beast to the new John Lewis store in Liverpool ONE, so we’re including it here.

George Henry Lee was founded by Henry Bowell Lee in 1853 as a bonnet warehouse in Basnett Street. The store was remodelled into the early 20th century to make it into what Jhn Lewi;s official history calls the North West’s “most exclusive shopping destination”.

After World War I it was taken over by Harry Gordon Selfridge – the subject of recent ITV drama Mr Selfridge.

In November 1928, Mr Selfridge’s son Gordon Selfridge Jnr came to visit his store’s extension in Houghton Street and told the ECHO: “We have got tremendous faith in Liverpool and all the North of England as the most industrial spot in the country.”

George Henry Lee's building in Church Street. Marks and Spencer is occupying the next block. Church Street is one of Liverpool's shopping areas. Church Street, Liverpool, Merseyside. 30th October 1989.

`In 1940 the chain was sold to John Lewis. And in 1961 John Lewis took over the neighbouring Bon Marche department store, facing onto Church Street, and merged it into George Henry Lee.

Rapid Hardware took over the old George Henry Lee part of the building. Now its successor Rapid Discount Outlet has closed and the famous old store is empty again.

C&A

Church Street, one of Liverpool's shopping areas. Church Street, Liverpool, Merseyside. 3rd October 1984.

Department store chain C&A closed its UYK stores in 2000 and 2001 though they are still a familiar fixture on the continent.

In Liverpool it had a store in Church Street, in what is now the next store.

Christmas lights in Church Street Liverpool, Merseyside, 13th December 1968

On the Liverpool Museums website , shopper Barbara Harrison remembered: “For ladies fashions it was a brilliant place to go. As soon as we got our bonus we’d be right down there spending it, it was great. It was a smashing shop.”

Rapid Hardware’s original home in Renshaw Street was a much more suitable location, which might explain why Rapid took up so much of the road.

Rapid stretched from the corner of Bold Street , with its pepperpot tower, right up to Lewis’s. The buildings were knocked through to create a warren of rooms and basements where the firm, founded in 1971, could display its massive stock.